Chapter 5

“Captain,” Auran greeted Captain Cason while he manned the control panel that controlled the repair bots.

“How long do you think it’ll take to do the repairs?” Captain Cason asked making his way to his chair.

“A large breach in the hull of the ship and some minor damage to interior parts. It’ll take four to five hours captain.” Auran answered clicking a few buttons on the control panel; releasing the six repair bots they had to do repairs.

After a moment of listening to the hums of the ship, Captain Cason asked: “What do you think of the boy.”

Auran contemplated for a brief second before saying, “He’s a mighty fine boy with great potential, but…”

“But what?” Captain Cason turned to look at Auran.

Auran stopped what he was doing and turned to Captain Cason while leaning back on the control panel.

“We don’t know where he is or where he came from, Cason. He got in the ship without us knowing. We even performed Nano Analysis procedures on every container that we had, and yet he managed to enter. Not to mention the…”

“Alright, that’s enough. No need to continue. Your concerns are the same as mine,” Captain Cason interrupted.

“So what are we going to do with the boy,” Auran asked letting out a sigh.

“I’m thinking of keeping him.” Captain Cason answered looking out the bridge window.

“Really?” Auran raised his head in surprise. ‘What had gotten into the captain? He was never like this before.’ Auran thought and looked at Captain Cason as if he was an alien.

“He’s got potential, and he reminds me of when I was young,” Captain Cason replied, “The main reason is that he’s pure. Too pure for this world. He doesn’t even know he killed a man. He probably thinks the man is just sleeping.”

“That is why, before anyone else gets to him and feeds him the wrong ideas. We’ll raise him to become a worthy human.” Captain Cason said looking forward to the future.

“He also has Ise; she’ll help guide him as well,” Auran added.

Both nodded in their hearts and gazed at their headed destination.

Chrono and Aura were walking through one of the many corridors in the ship.

“Where are we going Ise?” Chrono asked following behind her.

“I’m going to show you something,” Ise said increasing her pace. The two headed up a set of stairs and reached the top. Opening the door, a wave of air zoomed past them, almost causing Chrono to lose his grip on the railings.

“Here,” Ise said spreading her arms at like a bird. Ise led Chrono past the door and to the outside of the ship. Specifically the roof of the ship that overlooked the skies, and the floating isles.

“Wow!” Chrono cried out jumping forward in joy. He could see and admire the many floating islands all around them in a much broader view. He could spot the many new creatures he had never seen before. A reptile-like creature that swam in the sky with its large and wide cloth like arms that allowed it to glide in the air. It seemed that the creature was part of the dragon family as it breathed out fire periodically.

“Thank you!” Chrono said joining Ise who was leaning on the rail.

“You’re welcome. I thought I would thank you for protecting me.” Ise said recalling the time Chrono ‘risked’ his life and stopped the pirate leader from attacking her. Well, if that were to happen Auran would have shot the bullets out of the air in no time, but the gesture made her smile.

“I couldn’t let them hurt you,” Chrono said a bit shyly, and an awkward silence came between them.

“Where are we headed to?” Chrono asked breaking the silence.

“We’re headed to our camp on one of the floating islands here. After storing a few things, we’re going to go to the city to sell the rest of our cargo.” Ise replied still keeping her eyes forward.

“You’re brilliant,” Chrono said giving a smile.

“The old man taught me when I was young. He said that incompetence equals death and competence raises glory.” Ise replied giving a small sigh.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” Chrono said tilting his head slightly.

Ise gave a small smile and removed herself from the railing. She waved Chrono to follow her again, and the two headed down the roof and headed towards the bridge.

Chrono and Ise arrived at the bridge with timeliness as the ship closed in on a nearby floating island. The island is similar to the other islands; rich vegetation and thriving jungles and forests with little to no open fields. One distinct difference was the sole towering mountain that lied in the middle of the island.

“Follow me once we land.” Captain Cason instructed, “Ise you will help store the goods.”

Ise and Chrono nodded, and the ship landed neatly on a patch of open land. The four of them left the ship through the cargo room with Ise scrolling through a holo-pad and Auran inputting commands on a side panel. Captain Cason walked off without a word towards a fort that attached itself to the side of the mountain and entered through its gates.

Chrono who followed a few steps behind Captain Cason and opened the gates that closed behind Captain Cason. Once he was inside the fort, Captain Cason suddenly threw an object to him, and once he had caught the object, Captain Cason struck with a swift and powerful swing. The object that Chrono had caught was a wooden sword which he quickly held with one hand and rather than trying to block the sword that would remind him of the significant physical differences between them, he ducked. As he dodged and saw the curvature the wooden sword made above him, he suddenly flew through the air as Captain Cason turned his body and side-kicked Chrono’s face. Tasting the rubber and dirt from Captain Cason’s boots, Chrono began to spit the flavor from his mouth. He didn’t get rest as Captain Cason followed with an overhead swing, intending to smash Chrono’s head. Chrono dodged once again and rolled to the side only to get kicked in the back mid role causing him to tumble and violently roll several feet back.

“Is that all you got, boy?” Captain Cason taunted with disdain in his eyes. Chrono looked at Captain Cason and felt weak. He struggled to his feet not wanting to disappoint Captain Cason and saw that he intended to attack once more. Rather than a swing, Captain Cason rushed forward and pulled the wooden sword near his shoulder with the intention of impaling Chrono in his neck. Chrono, faster than he could think, narrowly dodged the thrust and placed his free hand on Captain Cason’s back as he passed by him and added force causing Captain Cason to move farther than he intended. This caused him to tumble which was the only chance that Chrono had. With his wooden sword, he whacked Captain Cason on the nape of his neck causing him to skid on the ground. Exhausted, Chrono stared at Captain Cason’s fallen body and wondered if he had overdone it.

Before his next thought could be processed Captain Cason's body disappeared; Chrono's eyes filled with bewilderment.

“We’ll need to work on your sword handling, but overall you did pretty good kid.” Captain Cason’s said appearing behind Chrono, “It’d be best not to push it and get some rest.”

Hearing him, Chrono nodded and fell backward into Captain Cason’s chest. Captain Cason quickly held Chrono at his shoulders and slowly let him lie on the ground. Slightly blowing air in front of him, a cloud-like substance came from his mouth and floated in front. Captain Cason directed the cloud to the boy, and the cloud lowered itself to Chrono’s body and gently lifted his body up. The cloud then carried Chronos body inside the fort; using its wind as a means to open the door